Best things to do in Parma

Parma's Unmissable Treasures

Parma's highlights sit within a short walk of each other. The Romanesque cathedral and Antelami's pink marble baptistery share one square, while the vast Farnese palace of the Pilotta holds a wooden Renaissance theatre and the city's main art gallery. Correggio's frescoes fill the cathedral dome, San Giovanni Evangelista and the Camera di San Paolo, and the Teatro Regio keeps Parma's opera tradition alive.

Parma's Unmissable Treasures — Map

A

Parma Cathedral

Romanesque cathedral whose dome is covered by Correggio's huge fresco of the Assumption of the Virgin.

Nauticashades / w:User:Nauticashades / cc-by-sa-3.0

B

Parma Baptistery

Octagonal baptistery of pink Verona marble begun in 1196 by Benedetto Antelami, with carved portals and a frescoed interior.

ho visto nina volare / cc-by-sa-2.0

C

Palazzo della Pilotta

Huge unfinished Farnese palace that now holds the National Gallery, the Teatro Farnese, the Palatine Library and the archaeological museum.

karaian / cc-by-2.0

D

Teatro Farnese

Wooden Renaissance theatre built in 1618 inside the Pilotta, rebuilt after wartime bombing and visited on the Pilotta ticket.

Antonio da Correggio / pd

E

Camera di San Paolo

The private dining room of a 16th-century abbess, with a vaulted ceiling painted by Correggio.

pensierarte / cc0

F

San Giovanni Evangelista

Benedictine abbey church behind the cathedral, with a dome frescoed by Correggio and an old monastic pharmacy next door.

Pensierarte / cc-by-sa-3.0

G

Santa Maria della Steccata

Renaissance church on a Greek-cross plan, with frescoes by Parmigianino and the tombs of the Farnese and Bourbon dukes.

spaceodissey / cc-by-2.0

H

Teatro Regio

Neoclassical opera house from 1829, the home of Parma's Verdi Festival each autumn.

Tripomatic user / cc-by-4.0

I

Piazza Garibaldi

Parma's main square on the site of the Roman forum, lined by the Governor's Palace and the Town Hall.

Giuseppe Alinovi (1811-1848) / pd

J

Museo Glauco Lombardi

Museum devoted to Duchess Marie Louise, Napoleon's second wife, who ruled Parma after 1815.

Other Lists

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